Dev was not afraid.
He did, however, respect the elements involved in what he needed to do. He imagined that this edge of unease was akin to fear but refused to dwell upon unproductive emotions. Instead he sharpened his mind to the task at hand.
Except…
Impulsively, Dev withdrew from the opening once again, pressed another quick kiss against her lips, and then ducked back into the cave. The ground extended just a few feet and then dropped off. He remembered this now. Even the musty scent was vaguely familiar.
Water splashing against the rocks below echoed off the cave walls. Good then. The fissure in the rocks hadn’t been blocked.
The rope was coiled loosely, and without hesitation, Dev tossed it into the darkness below. After a moment, it made a thud against the rocky side wall, and then a less emphatic clunk onto the floor. He carried with him a flint. Harold was to toss down the torch once Dev reached the bottom.
Sliding on some fitted gloves he’d worn in combat, Dev proceeded to climb, hand over hand, down the slick rocky wall. The memory of doing this as a boy gradually returned as he found footholds, and various outcrops on the way down. Just as his muscles began to burn, his feet landed at the bottom.
“I’m down!” he shouted up. The small amount of sunlight that had illuminated his way was temporarily blocked.
“Are you ready for the torch?” It was Harold, watching him from over the edge of the drop.
Dev lit the flint and held it out away from him. “Go ahead. Drop it!”
He saw the torch for a moment, and then an instant later, it was in front of him. Not even thinking, he grabbed it out of the air with his empty hand before it could hit the ground. The flint had stayed lit, and so he held it to the torch. Much better.
Turning around, he waved the fire toward the water. It looked much the same as it had, all those years ago — only smaller. As a grown man, how much more confined would the underwater tunnel feel? His own shoulders were slightly broader than Harold’s. That was good. If he could fit through, then Harold ought to as well.
Waving the flame around, he found a ledge where he could prop the torch to illuminate the room. Ah, yes, he remembered the importance of the illumination. When swimming back through, he would need to follow the light from the fire. Very important.
He then pulled his boots off and slipped his shirt off over his head.
As he did so, he took slow, deep breaths.
The light at the top shadowed again. “Please be careful, Dev.” It was Sophia.
He smiled. He’d never appreciated the concern of a woman before.
He hoped to hell this worked. He hated the secrecy, the deceit. He could only imagine how Harold had felt for most of his life, hiding who he really was.
“Don’t worry, love.” He spoke casually and then dove cleanly into the pool.
It was cold, but not overly so. This was England, after all, and the ocean was always cold, summer or not.
He acclimatized himself to the water by diving under several times before returning to the pool’s edge to slow down his breathing. Going out was not the difficult part; coming back in would be trickier. “I’m going to head out shortly!” he shouted upward. “Once outside, it will take me a few minutes to return.” He closed his eyes and took deep relaxing breaths. As he did so, he felt his heart rate slow. He’d gone over all of this with Harold, but it wouldn’t help much in the long run. Harold would have the waves to deal with. And the rocks.
As would Dev, after he’d slipped out the other side.
God, they’d been daredevils as children. He’d have his own sons’ hides if they ever attempted to do anything so dangerous.
If he ever had any sons, that was.
One long, slow breath, and Dev purposefully submerged himself in the direction of the tunnel.
It was still there.
It did appear smaller but not impossibly so. He resurfaced again and then, taking another deep breath, dove decisively toward the fissure.
His head and torso entered easily, and he intentionally pushed all thoughts of turning around out of his mind. The water had an ebb and flow to it.
When it ebbed, it sucked him into the tunnel farther.
He kicked his feet and pulled at the rocks with his arms toward what he could now see was the other side.
The water at the end was not black, but a lighter blue, aquamarine.
He maneuvered around a few outcroppings of rocks and carefully kicked his feet.
When his lungs began to burn, he merely focused on the lighter blue water.
He was almost through.
A tug, a pull, a painful slash along his side, and he felt himself pulled out of the tunnel.
Now up, up, up…
Air.
He inhaled a few gulps of air and then laughed.
This was why they’d done it as young adventurous boys. This sense of danger and then an even greater sense of triumph.
Dev treaded water for a few moments as he took in the dangers around him.
Some rocks to his left had not been there a decade ago. They must have fallen during a storm, or perhaps centuries of the surf, pounding below them had finally taken its toll. Either way, they now presented a definite danger.
He watched the swirls of the water and swam away from them accordingly.
The positioning of the rocks and the moving water prevented a swimmer from resting. Climbing the cliff was impossible as well. The only way out of the cove was back through the tunnel.
It was perfect for what they’d planned.
Relaxing into the waves, he rested for a moment and then, taking a deep breath dove back under.
It took him five tries before he could reach the tunnel again. He felt his heart begin to race faster and emptied his mind to decrease its pace.
He knew exactly where the tunnel was now. He emerged from the water, took in a great breath, and submerged himself once again.
He headed straight for the opening.
Almost impossible to see, he found it with his hands and pulled his body inward. On this attempt, he avoided the rocks that had slashed at him before.
But the water worked against him now.
As he used his arms and legs more, he knew his body would require extra oxygen. He emptied his mind and continued pulling at the rocks and kicking, and pushing off them with his feet.
A weak glow caught his eye.
It was a glimmer of light from the torch.
He focused on it and pulled and pushed and tugged his body through.
The difficult part was that the water wanted to expel him back into the lagoon again. He could not let it get ahold of him.
A great lunge with one foot, though and…
Yes… that sense of triumph once again.
He took a few breaths and then swam over to the other side of the pool.
“What do you think, Dev?” Harold must have heard him return. “Is it much the same?”
Dev did not want to scare Harold, and yet he didn’t wish to give him a false sense as to the level of difficulty the stunt would require.
He knew that Harold’s heart rate was going to increase dramatically as soon as he hit the water from above. It was a long, exhilarating, jump. Perhaps if Dev could mark the tunnel somehow… “I’ll be out in a moment.” He was non-committal.
* * *
Sophia had never heard a sweeter sound than Dev’s voice when it echoed out of the top of that blasted cave. She and Harold looked at each other in relief. And then, Harold was backing away, and Dev’s water-slickened head poked out.
He was like a seal, with black sultry eyes and a powerful, well-defined physique.
Her Dev.
He winked at her before turning to Harold. “It’s much the same, Harold. I think it was always tricky. We simply were too foolish to recognize the dangers.”
“But you recognize them now,” Harold said grimly.
Dev nodded. “I do.” Standing up, he gestured for both of t
hem to follow him.
They were headed for the cliff, and when he stepped into the sunshine, she noticed the large crimson stain on the side of his shirt.
Dev was explaining something to Harold, though, and pointing downward. “There would have been a rockslide since we last dove. If you look down there…”
Harold was nodding. “I thought it looked different. Do you think the jump still possible?”
Sophia felt her heart squeeze. Harold’s determination and courage were admirable, but she would not wish him to be harmed… or worse…
Dev had pulled his dry shirt on carelessly, most likely not even realizing that he had been hurt. It was not tucked in and hung long past his waist. Sophia wanted to rush forward and examine Dev’s wound, but she knew it was not the time.
“If we jump from over here, we miss them,” Dev said walking about ten paces to the left. He then pointed again. “See that outcrop of brush, with the large rock just below it?”
Harold was nodding.
“The tunnel is about four feet to the right of it. It’s dark when you go down, so you need to search for it with your hands. And be prepared for the pull of the cove. You must not allow it to take hold of you once you are inside of the tunnel.” He then began swinging his arms back and forth as though to loosen his muscles. “The tide is still high. What do you think? Shall we do the jump together a few times, while we have the chance today?”
Sophia wished she would faint.
But she’d insisted upon coming and would not become a liability now. Dev was grinning at Harold, and she realized he did this intentionally. She knew he’d already spent a great deal of time discussing techniques and problems to watch for. Now, she knew, he was ready to share his courage.
Gritting his teeth, Harold nodded.
“Here.” She stepped toward Harold, taking the lead from Dev. “I’ll hold your waistcoat.” If Harold was not ready to do this, then now would be the time to back out.
She also knew that Dev would not lead his cousin into an impossible situation.
As did, apparently, Harold.
Harold handed Sophia his coat and then sat on the ground to remove his boots. When he stood up, he began moving his arms back and forth as well, and jumping from one foot to the other. “All right, then, Dev,” he said. He flashed his cousin an impulsively wicked grin. “On three?”
Dev merely shook his head and took a running leap. As his body flew off the side of the cliff, he tucked his feet beneath him into a tight human missile.
Not waiting even another second, Harold followed him enthusiastically into the churning cauldron of the cove’s murky depths.
Sophia covered her face. She knew what she needed to do now. She was to return to the cave and wait.
Chapter Eighteen
All in all, Harold jumped three times And Dev twice.
She could imagine them, as boys, spending warm afternoons, throwing themselves into the sea, over and over again until they’d worn off their adolescent restlessness. It hadn’t taken them long to swim back into the cave, thank God. Sophia had heard Harold’s laughter just moments after she, herself, climbed back to the opening.
When she’d heard it, she couldn’t help grinning. Dev’s voice was casual, matter-of-fact, as though he’d not doubted Harold’s abilities for a moment. The greatest challenge for Harold had been climbing back out of the cave itself. With a few pointers, though, and encouragement from Dev, he’d eventually emerged, full of confidence, ready to do it again.
“At first, I thought I wouldn’t make it through that tight part, in the middle, Dev,” he said as he stepped gingerly through the rocks back toward the cliff, “until you shoved me from behind. This time I’ll do it without your assistance.”
“I’ll let you do it alone this time, then,” Dev said. “I could see that once you found your handles on the rocks, you would have made it through without my help.”
“You think so, Dev? I thought so too. But I wasn’t certain. I’d forgotten how important the torch was. We’ll have to have it set in place when I jump in. Blazing bollocks! That water was cold as I hit it. Nearly drank a gallon of saltwater when I went under.” And then he smiled at Sophia. “Excuse my language, ma’am.” He looked sheepish for all of two seconds. “Couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t encouraged me to do all that swimming this week, Sophia. I’d give you a hug if I weren’t all wet…” He looked down at his shirt front. “…and covered in mud.”
On Harold’s second jump, Dev waited with Sophia. Both of them watched as Harold threw himself into the water and then dove for the tunnel.
This was progress, indeed. Up until today, this part of the plan had been an uncertainty.
After Harold disappeared into the tunnel, Dev glanced over at her, grinning. But his gaze held an intensity.
His hands landed on her waist, and he pulled her up against him.
“I’m soaked, and I’m just as covered in mud,” he growled into her neck, “but I’ll not let this opportunity pass.”
“It’s been forever,” Sophia agreed, closing her eyes and tilting her head to give him better access to her nape. His skin was warm beneath the wet fabric, which reminded her. “You cut yourself, Dev. You’re injured.”
But he made no move to release her. “It’s nothing, a scratch.” His lips trailed her cheek before settling upon her mouth.
Oh, yes. He tasted of salt and man and sunshine. Sophia wanted to stay in his arms forever. She wanted to explore every inch of his skin, inhaling his scent as she did so. Their time together the night of her wedding had been like an explosion. They’d gotten a taste of one other, but not been able to savor and delight. She dug her fingers into his scalp and hair, pressing herself closer to him in the process.
Breathing harshly, Dev broke away and again buried his face on her shoulder.
For although Harold knew of their relationship, the situation demanded restraint. The three of them were too close to success to jeopardize it now.
And so, after a moment to regain their composure, Dev turned her, draped one arm around her shoulder, and led the two of them back to the mouth of the cave.
Harold could be heard climbing the rope.
“Dev, are you out there? I will do it one more time, but I need to make it look as though I truly am falling. I’m thinking,” he said, his face appearing at the opening, and he addressed Sophia, “I must look as though I’ve lost my balance. When I jump this time, I want to make it look as though perhaps I’m teasing you, you know, showing off, and then I can appear to have underestimated the proximity of the cliff. Any witnesses, hopefully, will be too far away to see how I land in the water.”
Sophia’s heart squeezed. Harold really was going to do this. She and this brave young man had grown surprisingly close over the past week. And he was going to go away.
Forever.
She was going to play the part of his grieving widow.
Dev seemed to read her mind. “You are going to have to be something of an actress, Sophia. I’m going to wait in the cave, with the light burning and a disguise for Harold. It will be vital he get away from Priory Point and Dover unrecognized.”
Harold was leading them back to the cliff once again. Now that he’d experienced some success, he seemed to not be wavering at all. “Stewart is going to join me after my memorial service. It would look strange if he, my valet, were to leave without attending.”
Joy could be heard in Harold’s tone. Not the words themselves, but in that he could speak them openly before Dev and Sophia. This was why he did this. All he wished for was the freedom to love. The same thing Sophia and Dev wanted.
Only for him it would come at a much greater price.
He must give up his home, his family, his birthright… everything.
The risks of him not doing so, but continuing to live as he did here in England, were too great.
Now that Harold had proven he could perform the stunt, other realities of what they must do came into play.
>
Sophia mostly dreaded deceiving his mother into believing her youngest son had perished. Although she now knew that the duchess had likely taken part in the manipulation of her marriage, she’d also learned that it had been done out of fear for the son she loved dearly.
And now Sophia was going to perpetrate a horrible falsehood upon her. With a dawning horror, she stood back and pondered all the ramifications of their deceit as Dev and Harold considered varying techniques for Harold’s fall.
She’d not been listening to them closely, caught up in her own thought, so when Dev seemed to slip, and then lose his balance and fall into the water, she ran to the cliff’s edge in a near panic.
“Dev!” She could not stop the cry that was dragged from within her.
Harold laughed, catching her by the hand.
“I’m going to try it now. You tell me afterwards if I’m as convincing.”
Her heart raced, her emotions becoming more unsettled as the planning proceeded. She nodded, nonetheless and watched encouragingly as Harold pretended to jest for her, lost his footing, and then tumbled over the side of the cliff.
We are most certainly all going to go to hell for this, she thought as she traversed back to the cave.
* * *
Dev knew Sophia was beginning to have doubts. He could see it in her eyes every time they referred to the deception required after Harold’s death. Ironically, it seemed, the more confidant Harold became, the less certain she was.
If Sophia later regretted any of this, if she could only come to him filled with guilt, Dev would never forgive himself. Therefore, they all must be absolutely certain Harold wasn’t feeling coerced or pressured in any way.
And so, later that day, while Sophia took tea with her mother-in-law and a few of the aunts, Dev pulled Harold aside for a private discussion in the library. The other men were enjoying the billiards tables this afternoon, and so he did not think they would be interrupted.
Harold, too, had a few things to say.
Before Dev could even pour a splash of whisky, Harold approached the subject of Sophia.
Dashing Dukes and Romantic Rogues Page 60